The Future has to be ‘Green’ says Construction

‘The Green Perspective’ report by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) has revealed that over 94% of construction professionals believe that ‘green’ building is the future for the construction industry.

Almost 850 construction professionals took part in the CIOB survey that examined the industry’s attitude towards climate change and the role of sustainable construction.

Michael Brown CIOB deputy chief executive said, “From the survey we can see that there is clear concern about climate change and a desire to enforce sustainable construction but there is a lack of understanding about what is being done and what can be done to tackle these issues. The problem may lay in the fact there is still much debate among experts and political leaders concerning possible solutions and the affect that they will have in reducing climate change. What is certain is that reducing waste and carbon emissions from buildings will not only help the environment but is also profitable to businesses. From these results we can see that there is no debate to be had within the construction industry in regards to the direction that needs to be taken, but reaching these people with everyday solutions and practical changes seems to be where the ‘green revolution’ is falling short.”

The study clearly shows that awareness within the industry has been heightened in regards to environmental issues and their implications for the future of the industry: 98% of respondents accept that construction has a role to play in climate change, 91.4% believe that this role is either important or vital to climate change, 94.6% believe that ‘green’ building is the future for construction, and 86.2 % believe that there are financial benefits to producing energy efficient buildings.

Further results show that the industry itself sees the importance of sustainable building however 67% of respondents felt that the current UK building regulations do not go far enough to create energy efficient buildings. In addition, building regulations were seen as the most valuable way for the built environment to reduce C02, with the majority believing that building regulations were enforceable. This would suggest that the industry would like to see a more forceful and demanding set of regulations in place to drive sustainable development and market demand.

Michael added, “Although this survey has identified an increase in demand for sustainable development over the last five years, this increase appears not yet to have reached significant enough levels. The reason for this lack of widespread market appetite is seen as a shortage of client awareness and education towards the financial benefits for building green projects. And yet 86% of respondents believe there are financial benefits to be had from producing energy efficient buildings.”

Top line statistics

The sample consisted of 847 construction industry professionals, the majority of whom were company directors or management

98% of respondents believed that the construction industry had a role to play in the solution to climate change; with 54% considering that the industry’s participation was vital in reducing C02 levels

66.6% of respondents stated that the current UK building regulations do not go far enough to create energy efficient buildings

73% had seen an increase in demand for energy efficient buildings over the last 5 years